Special thanks to trulyanimelover06 and all my reviewers.
Dedications in alphabetical: .CriMsonxLadY., Aihsire Atha, , Alice, AlySimmons, AngelfishXD, asranZARA, AsuCaga4ever, AyameRose, Blackcat8794, Byron Lancaster, cagallifangurl, colourfulgurl, Dhevz, eternalasucaga, Fii aka Ficchan, hellopanda23, Jodeist, Joker Oak, Katina Uchiha, kamille murasame, KazumiSakura, Litari Hatake, Lynca Blanchard, Miyu Nanami, mokonamodoki93, mrs. zala, Mwah Z, patzie24, precious1421, ren, sakurayamato1, SaKuRaYukIe, Sandyx5, Sawagi-chan, Serenity Venice, stubbornheroine, The Blue Mask-cara, The Only Love For Soujiro Seta, trulyanimelover06, Tuna, VamyMeth, yuki001, Yuniee
Did I miss out anyone?
Disclaimer: I do not own gundam seed.
... ... ...
Previously...
"Hello?" Athrun answered.
"YOU BASTARD! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?" the other person shouted. Athrun knew instantly who that person was.
"What do you want Shinn?" Athrun replied annoyed.
"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU? DON'T YOU KNOW CAGALLI IS LEAVING FOR ORB NOW?" Shinn yelled.
... ... ...
Cagalli sat alone in the airport lounge waiting for her brother. She and Kira were returning back to Orb. After Cagalli's identity as Orb's crown princess had been revealed to the whole world, it wasn't safe anymore for her to stay behind.
Cagalli's mind wondered off to the event the night before. The girls and her had gotten themselves dead drunk. She couldn't exactly remember what happened, she only knew that Athrun had brought her home. When she got up in the morning, she had a terrible hangover followed by a long melodramatic lecture by Kira.
"It's time to go Cagalli," Kira said gently.
The trip back was decided very last minute. The twins didn't even have time to bid farewell to their friends although Kira managed to make a quick call to Lacus. Shinn was staying behind in Orb, he would explain to the rest about the twins' sudden departure.
Cagalli got up as she followed her brother quietly to the boarding gate. She looked back, half hoping that Athrun would be there to stop her. She also knew that it was impossible. Athrun didn't know that she was leaving. How could he? He refused to contact her.
... ... ...
Athrun was soaked and panting very heavily when he reached the airport terminal. The taxi he took was stuck in a jam half way, making him run by foot the rest of the journey. It was as if the heavens were angry with him and wanted to punish him. Not long after he got off the taxi, it started pouring.
The first flight to Orb had already departed while the second was on boarding, Athrun had checked.
"Please, let her be in the second flight!" Athrun prayed to the heavens as he ran towards the departure gate.
"I'm sorry sir. You're not allowed to enter without a boarding pass," the security officer said to Athrun.
"I'm not going to board the plane. I just need to speak with my girlfriend," Athrun said.
"I'm sorry sir. You are causing a disturbance. Please leave now or we're going to have to arrest you," he threatened Athrun.
Athrun knew he had no other choice but to leave. Without his passport, there was no way Athrun could get into the departure hall.
Suddenly, an idea struck him. He knew how to get to Cagalli.
"Cagalli, wait! Please don't leave," Athrun's voice echoed through the entire airport. With a little charm and money, Athrun had managed to convince the girl at the reception to let him make an announcement.
"I've been an awful jerk and I'm so sorry. Please forgive me..."
"Umm, Mr Zala," someone interrupted Athrun. "Princess Cagalli was in the first flight..."
... ... ...
"I need to see her highness Princess Cagalli," Athrun told the guard at the large metal gates of the imperial palace.
"Do you have an appointment with her royal highness?" the guard asked nonchalantly.
"No," Athrun said slowly. "Not exactly. But I need to see her. I'm Athrun Zala. Tell her I'm here."
"No one is allowed to see her highness without an appointment," the guard insisted.
Athrun's patience was wearing thin. He had humiliated himself at the airport in the Plants for nothing. He had made a broadcast throughout the airport in his desperate attempt to stop Cagalli. However, his efforts were in vain when he found out that Cagalli was no longer in the airport and that her plane had already taken off.
He also went through hell just to get to Orb. He was nearly run over by a truck when he ran to the airport to catch a plane that he missed in the end. The weather didn't help either; it was raining cats and dogs. Athrun had looked like a drenched puppy when he reached the airport. Then, his private plane took an eternity to get ready. Athrun wondered if taking the commercial plane would be faster, but he thought of the long immigrations queue and the stringent security checks and decided taking his own plane would still be faster. That was one of the benefits of being the son of a business tycoon.
"I'm sorry, I think we should start over. I'm Athrun Zala." Athrun usually didn't like to use his family's influence but desperate times called for desperate measures.
The guard continued to stare at Athrun indifferently. He didn't seem to know who Athrun was. It was as if he had never heard of the Zala Corp. How was that even possible?
"Look, I really need to see Cagalli. I'm her boyfriend," Athrun said, clearly running out of patience.
"Oh, so are they," the guard pointed to a large group of young men at the side. They were all carrying bouquets of flowers and boxes of chocolates. Athrun hadn't notice them earlier and now that he had, he was disgusted. Athrun was the real deal, and here he had people pretending to be her boyfriend.
Athrun was not going to give up. He was just going to find another way to get into the palace. If only Cagalli could just answer her phone.
Athrun continued walking till he reached the back gates of the imperial palace. They really had tight security. There was no way Athrun could climb over the fences undetected. The only way into the palace was through the gates. Athrun cursed, he still needed a pass to get through the gates.
Just then, Athrun's luck had changed for the better. Someone had knocked onto Athrun and dropped all the things she was carrying.
"Stella is so sorry! Stella didn't mean to knock onto mister!" the blonde girl went into a frenzy.
Athrun stared at the weird girl who was referring to herself as the third party. She looked very familiar. He realised that she looked very identical to Cagalli. They could have passed off as one person if not for their eyes- this girl had violet orbs.
Snapping back into reality, Athrun bent down to help pick up the sea shells the girl had dropped. The blonde girl suddenly shot him a look of hostility as he handed the shells to her.
"Oh, it's just you," she said.
Athrun blinked. He realised that this girl was Cagalli's cousin. They had met before the last time Athrun was in Orb. Back then, he was out with Cagalli on their first date. It was no wonder she looked so familiar.
"What are you doing here?" her eyes narrowed at him.
"I've been a real jerk. I need to make things right between Cagalli and I again," Athrun said earnestly.
Stella was still skeptical about Athrun. Yes, he did sound sincere. But he had really hurt Cagalli. In his defense, Stella could say that Cagalli lied to him first. Stella sighed. Why were things so complicated? That she couldn't really understand.
"Please, can you help me get in?" Athrun asked.
Stella hesitated for a while. "Alright. Follow Stella."
Athrun did as he was told. He followed Stella to the back gate where she told the guards that Athrun was with her. He was really thankful.
"Stella's leaving now," she said once they were in a deserted corner of the place. "Try not to get noticed. Athrun has no visitor's pass. Athrun can't be caught," she warned him.
Athrun watched as Cagalli's strange cousin walked off. He now has to find Cagalli. But where should he start? The palace was practically a giant maze. Athrun was trying his best to recall the place. He vaguely remembered Shinn telling him about Cagalli's favourite place. Was it the rose garden? Athrun was not sure. He cursed himself for forgetting to ask Stella where Cagalli was. If only he could he could contact Kira or Cagalli herself.
"There you are!" someone suddenly exclaimed, making Athrun jump in surprise.
Athrun turned around to find a blonde woman- thin in the extreme- walking towards him.
"Hi, you must be the fengshui master," she said, pausing for a while to analyse Athrun.
Athrun shifted uncomfortably under her scrutinising gaze. Suddenly, Stella's warning earlier came back as a reminder. He couldn't get caught.
Acting impulsively, Athrun said hastily, "Yes! Of course! I'm Alex Dino."
"It's a pleasure to meet you Master Dino. I'm Amanda Fyde. His royal majesty has put me in charge," she said in a business-like manner.
Underneath the thick heavy make up the woman wore, Athrun saw that she had crow's feet. Amanda looked much younger from afar.
"... ... Pardon me Master Dino, but you look very young... "
Athrun wasn't really listening to a word Amanda was saying. He knew she was talking about fengshui and the palace but he was caught off guard when she suddenly changed topic and commented on his youthfulness.
"It's amazing what technology can do these days," Athrun found himself saying.
"You had botox?" the woman exclaimed.
"Err, yea. Something like that," Athrun said though botox was not the first thing in his mind.
"They did a very good job! I don't see any wrinkles!" Amanda said amazed.
"Yes, of course. I only have the best," Athrun said continuing his facade.
"Could you tell me where you did it?" she asked eagerly.
''I had it done in the Plants. Their technology is very advanced." Athrun told her.
"Can you give me the name of the place? I want to go there the next time I visit the Plants."
"Oh, I err forgot," Athrun said lamely.
"Forgot? But I'm sure you can remember at least the name of the clinic. I don't need the exact address," she pressed on.
Athrun quickly racked his head for any names. The woman looked like she wasn't going to give up anytime soon.
"Err... It's in December City, Second Avenue. I'm really bad in remembering names..." Athrun said.
"I suppose that will do," Amanda said as she scribbled down the address in her clipboard. "Shall we proceed to the rooms now?" she asked.
... ... ...
"Umm... everything looks fine here," Athrun said. He was wondering how he was going to escape and look for Cagalli. Amanda had led him into one of the guest bedrooms.
"Are you sure?" Amanda asked unconvinced.
Athrun walked around the bedroom one more time. He really had to say something intelligent soon or Amanda will find out that he's a phony.
"Well, if you really want to know what I think..." Athrun dragged; he was trying to buy more time for him to think.
"Yes," Amanda encouraged.
"The bed should not be placed directly in front of the door," Athrun pointed out. "Sleeping in line with the door will expose you to excessive Chi," he said hoping that what he said was right.
"Yes, yes. That makes sense!" Amanda agreed as she looked up from her clipboard and then continued making notes. "What else? Please continue Master Dino."
"Erm lastly," Athrun said. "You should never put a working desk or computer in the bedroom." Athrun looked back at Amanda before continuing to explain. "You see, the working desk and the bed are opposites of each other, work and rest. They're incompatible and hence cannot be placed together."
"Yes I agree!" Amanda nodded, looking as if she understood everything.
"I guess this is all for now Miss Fyde," Athrun said. Inside, he was full of relief for managing to fool her. "I'm a very busy man," he added.
"Yes of course Master Dino. But you have to see her highness's room first before you leave."
"Her highness's room?" Athrun echoed
"Yes, I would like you to inspect the Princess's room before you leave."
Athrun was nearly dizzy with excitement. There was a very high possibility he was going to meet Cagalli.
... ... ...
When they reached Cagalli's room- to Athrun's disappointment- the feisty blonde was no where in sight. The large French windows were open and the white satin curtains were flapping wildly.
"That's odd," Amanda said. "Her highness is supposed to be in her room."
Just then, they heard a scream from the window. Athrun and Amanda rushed over just in time to see one of the maids looking towards them in terror.
"P-Princess!" she stammered.
Athrun looked around frantically for Cagalli. He finally found her clinging to the wall of the second floor. What happened later nearly made Athrun's heart jump out of his chest.
"Coming through!" Cagalli called out to the people downstairs as she jumped off from the second story. To the people downstairs, Cagalli- dressed in a flowing silvery white gown- looked like an angel falling from the sky.
"Cagalli!" Athrun shouted. However, he voice was muffled out by cries from other people. There were shouting, "Your highness/ Princess! Be careful!"
Cagalli landed on some bushes below. Somehow, she managed to get away unscathed. Getting up almost instantly, Cagalli made a run for it. She ran deeper into the garden. The other people downstairs of course gave chase. "Your highness!" they called out in frenzy as they rushed to catch up with her. And boy, she was fast.
Athrun who was upstairs, saw everything. Ignoring the look Amanda was giving him, he climb out of the same widow Cagalli had used to escape. But instead of the bushes, Athrun aimed for the trees. With a few swift moves, Athrun gracefully landed on his feet as he swung down from the tree. He then joined the chase with the other people to catch Cagalli. It seemed with the almost instant response from the other servants, they were used to quickly running after Cagalli. Athrun smiled as he thought of his feisty princess. She was quite a trouble maker.
Athrun continued running. The garden was different from the other gardens in the palace. It was more of a forest with towering trees and wild flowers.
Athrun stopped for a while. It was no use continuing to run because Cagalli had already disappeared.
Suddenly, Athrun's phone rang.
"Hello?" Athrun picked up the call.
"Young master," Athrun immediately recognised the person in the other line. It was his family's ever loyal butler.
"What is it Alfred?"
"The master, your father, has a party tomorrow and he wishes you to join him. It would be wise to leave for the Plants as soon as possible sir."
"Ok, I understand. Thank you so much Alfred."
"It's my pleasure young master."
And the line went dead. Athrun sighed. Unless a miracle happened- which involved Cagalli suddenly appearing in front of him- Athrun would not be able to see Cagalli for quite some time. Athrun massaged his temples. He really missed Cagalli and he deeply regretted his childish behavior of ignoring her earlier on. This was his retribution for being unreasonable and not giving her a chance to explain earlier.
... ... ...
It was midnight when Athrun finally reached his mansion in the Plants. He was very tired and his whole body was sore. After all that he had been through, he still hadn't gotten a chance to apologise to Cagalli and make it up to her.
As he trudged up the stairs to his bedroom defeated, Athrun felt very miserable. He wondered if he was ever going to see Cagalli again.
"Hello Athrun."
Athrun stared at the blonde sitting at the end of his bed when he opened the door. She was smiling at him. It was exactly the way he remembered it to be- warm.
To be continued...
Hello everyone! Sorry for the extreme long wait. It has been (and still is) a very terrible month for me... I know it's no excuse... This story is suppose to be ending but I don't know what's taking me so long to end it. But thank you everyone for your support and patience!